RELATED LINKS

Featured Video

At Long Last

Permanent protections for Glacier's headwaters

By Amy Leinbach Marquis

This February, as Vancouver bustled with Olympic athletes chasing the gold, another remarkable victory was shaping up in the quiet, remote Flathead River Valley to the east. It began when British Columbia’s government announced a permanent ban on mining and drilling in Canada’s Flathead River Valley; one week later, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer (D) promised the same level of protection south of the border.

It’s a big win for Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, designated a World Heritage Site in 1995, and it brings an end to an era of environmentally catastrophic proposals for projects like strip mining and coal-bed methane drilling. To make sure similar threats don’t creep back in, U.S. Sens. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Jon Tester (D-MT) are introducing legislation in Congress that would end all leasing for oil and gas mining in the Flathead’s North Fork outside Glacier National Park, and begin the process of retiring old leases that are currently suspended and undeveloped. The decision allows the countries to focus on protecting the area’s wildlife corridors. Canadian officials will also discuss the possibility of incorporating the lower third of the Flathead River into the Canadian side of the peace park—a move favored by many British Columbia residents.

Conservation efforts in the Flathead date back more than 35 years, when NPCA joined with First Nations, business groups, and community leaders on both sides of the border to block a series of proposed open-pit, mountain-removal coal mines in the Flathead Valley (see “Moving Mountains,” Summer 2008).

The recent pledge is a great start to Glacier’s second century; the park was created 100 years ago this spring. “We can’t think of a better birthday present for Glacier National Park,” says Will Hammerquist, NPCA’s Glacier program manager.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Post a Comment

Thoughts about this article? Comments you'd like to share with the editors? Post your comments below* or send an e-mail to npmag@npca.org, and we'll consider printing your letter in the next issue of National Parks magazine. If you write a letter please include your name, city, and state. Published letters may be edited for length and clarity.

Nickname

Comment

Email

Check this box if you would like to receive periodic updates, including our monthly enewsletter, Park Lines, and action alerts.

* Your comments will appear once approved by the moderator. NPCA staff do not regularly respond to postings. We reserve the right to remove comments that include profanity, personal attacks, or are off-topic. Opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the position(s) of NPCA. By submitting comments you are giving NPCA permission to reuse your words on our website and print materials.

Want to learn more about the ?

The can be seen in the wild in America’s national parks. Why not join the National Parks Conservation Association community to protect and preserve our national parks?

Sign up to protect parks in & other states

Why not join the National Parks Conservation Association Community to protect and preserve our national parks?

Sign up to protect and other National Parks

Why not join the National Parks Conservation Association Community to protect and preserve our national parks?

Please leave this field empty

Yes, please sign me up for NPCA’s newsletter and other emails about protecting our national parks!